Certain areas (e.g., rooms, secured production areas, etc.) can be accessed via a door (e.g., swinging door, sliding door, etc.), wherein, as desired, a particular defined area can be secured by having a lock on the door to the defined area. Typically, an electromagnetic lock can be used to lock a door to a defined area, where the defined area can be used, for example, for storage of product, for production line operations, etc. Certain electromagnetic locks employ magnetic locks or linear solenoids, which require power in order to maintain the lock in the locked position with respect to the door with which the lock is associated. Conventional electromagnetic locks typically lose their adhesive forces under power off conditions (e.g., when power to the lock is lost or otherwise discontinued). That is, the solenoid in a conventional electromagnetic lock typically loses its holding force to hold the lock in the locked position when there is a loss of power to the solenoid. Further, under power on conditions, conventional electromagnet and solenoid based locks can consume significant power and generate heat.
It is desirable to be able to maintain a door lock in a desired state (e.g., locked position) during power off conditions, such as power failure situations, as the defined area associated with the door can be secured and/or energy can be conserved and/or loss of product stored in the defined area can be minimized or eliminated. It is also desirable to conserve power associated with operating the door lock and maintaining the door lock in a locked position during power on conditions. It is further desirable to be able to use the door lock on a variety of different types of doors.